The Allplane Podcast #20 - Restoring a Soviet airliner, with Maria Karmanova
Maria Karmanova in the cockpit of the Tu-104 she is restoring. Picture by Gustavo Zyryanov
For today’s episode we connect with Novosibirsk, the city that is considered to be the capital of Siberia, to learn more about a very special aviation heritage restoration project.
Maria Karmanova in the Tu-104 cabin. Picture by Gustavo Zyryanov
Maria Karmanova is a Russian mathematician, but besides her scientific research and academic work, she is also an aviation enthusiast who has devoted the last decade to restore an iconic Soviet-era airliner.
The Tupolev Tu-104 was once the pride of the Soviet civilian aeronautical industry, the second jet airliner to enter regular service and, by many standards, the first one to do so consistently successfully, between the 1950s and the early 1980s.
Back in 2009 Maria came across a former Aeroflot Tu-104 that had been left on the ground at a local airfield in Siberia since the late 1970s. This sight inspired her to find out more about that aircraft and was the start of a journey to which she has devoted plenty of time and efforts since.
Together with a group of volunteers, Maria has been painstakingly researching and restoring this aircraft, taking care of sourcing original parts and components wherever she could find them on the internet and bringing the cabin back to its original state.
As the aircraft is nearing completion, she joins us today on the podcast to tell us her story and that of this very inspiring passion project!
Download this episode from:
Apple Podcasts / iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher
Things we talk about in this episode:
How Maria came across the Tu-104 at a local airport in Siberia
Why the Tu-104 is an important aircraft in the history of aviation
What is the story of this particular Tu-104 airframe
How she sources missing Tu-104 parts on the internet
The status of her restoration project
Resources
The Tu-104 restoration project on:
Tupolev Tu-104 on Wikipedia
Berdsk Airfield (where the the Tu-104 is located)
Podcast about the ALSIB (Alaska-Siberia) route that I mention
My CNN piece about vintage airliners you can still fly
Picture of the moment the Tu-104 landed at Berdsk on its last flight (note the parachutes!)
The very rare sextant SP-1M Maria bought last May in Latvia, it works together with the astronomic chronometer 13-20ChPM
The boarding ramp SPT-154 that was recently installed near the tail entrance of the Tu-104. The boarding ramp is a gift from Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport
Video of Maria in a Tu-154 simulator
Maria and the Tu-104 in the first channel news of Russian TV
Russian TV News piece about the Tu-104 Maria is restoring
Some pictures of Maria with the Tupolev Tu-104 she is restoring (Note the Tu-104 navigator’s glass nose that we mention in the podcast!)
Pictures below by Marina Volkova / Kuryer. Sreda. Berdsk (Марина Волкова / Курьер. Среда. Бердск)
Podcast Music: Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3762-five-armies
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Interview Transcript (coming soon!)
(please note that, although we strive to make it as close as possible to the original recording, the transcript may not be 100% accurate)